Flourishing Leaves
by Midnightletter13
Summary: Six leaf ninja attend the Flourishing Leaf Academy, a prestigious ninja school in the leaf village. Soon the six gifted shinobi realize their new school is more than what it seems, and that it has some dark plans for them. AU
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: This is my first real try at a Naruto fanfiction (I did upload a Naruto fanfic once before but deleted it). It was inspired by the second shippuden ending and the comic Morning Glories by Nick Spencer. Please review; tell me what you like, what you hate, what I need improvement on. Please be honest I need the criticism. Most of all read and enjoy.

**1**

The silver haired man stood in front of the classroom, rambling on with his lesson even though most of the students clearly weren't listening. One student, a small pale girl, brought out a long strip of paper from her pocket that had strange writing scribbled on it. She carefully stuck the paper to the bottom of her desk. The small girl did this act so quick and quietly none of the other students noticed. However the silver haired man noiced.

Interrupting his own lesson the silver haired man ran toward the desk the girl was sitting at. In one swift motion the man grabbed the desk, lifted it over his head, and threw it out of a nearby window. Shattered glass rained down outside and sprinkled over the floor in the classroom.

Before the shock of this action could even sink into the minds of the students a loud explosion shook the classroom violently, making some students fall out of their seats and onto the floor. A ball of fire erupted outside from where the desk had landed, turning the grass it was touching to ash and blackening the ground surrounding it.

The classroom was dead silent, the students were too afraid and confused to say anything. The silver haired man glared hotly at the small girl who sat in her chair looking unfazed by what had happened.

The man took a few steps closer to the girl, leaving only an inch between them. Reaching down the man took the girl's chin in his hand. His grasp was gentle but the girl could since the urge to break every bone in her face from the slight shiver of his fingers.

"That was uncalled for Ms. Kio," the man said calmly with murder in his eyes, "and also quite reckless. If I hadn't seen you with the paper bomb it would have killed you when it detonated. All you would have succeeded in doing was killing yourself and a few classmates. I would have been injured but not fatally. So what was your real purpose?"

The man's anger subsided as he began to figure out what was really going on. The girl was just a destraction to keep their attention preoccupied. Her plan was not to escape or kill him. Her real purpose was...

"There are other's who are trying to escape!" The silver haired man exclaimed.

Leaving the girl for later the man rushed out the classroom and alerted the guards of the escape plan. The man informed the guards the explosion they heard was a diversion meant to hold the teacher's and guard's attention long enough for a group of students to leave the school.

"Set up three squads; first squad will search the school for any students not in class, second squad will go to classrooms and take attendance to see which students are missing, and third squad will search the outside of the school in case some might have already escaped. Go!" The man commanded.

The guards immediately went into action and divided their great numbers into three groups, then set out on their assignment.

The silver haired man stood in the hall watching the guards getting together and moving out. Once he knew the situation was in their hands he went back inside his classroom to deal with the girl. The man didn't drag out the girl's death, but he didn't finish her as quick as he could either. The other students looked on with cold expressions, they had witnessed the countless deaths of students who had tried to defy the school's faculty. When they had witnessed such a thing over and over again, the children had learned to grit their teethe and bare it. No matter how much they hated it and thought it was wrong most of them would do nothing about it, too afraid to be punished next.

In another part of the school three teenagers were running for their lives. Two were boys of the same age, one was a girl a year or so younger then them. The trio knew that this would be their only chance to escape the Flourishing Leaf Academy, if they were caught they would be killed or worse. They had seen the _other _way the school dealt with trouble makers, and it made being dead look much better.

"Should we stay together or split up?" One of the boys asked.

The other boy, the leader of the group, thought for a moment then decided.

"We should split. If they catch us now Kio's death would be a waste. If at least one of us can get away then that person can inform the leaf village about what's really going on in this school."

The other kids nodded. The true purpose of this escape wasn't their freedom, it was to bring about the end of this hell hole that had everyone fooled, even the Hokage. If they could do that it didn't matter how many died it would be worth it.

The three kids broke off in different directions. The leader went down a stairwell, skipping several steps at once. He reached the bottom of the steps and was heading toward the door leading to a hall.

The faint sounds of steps made him look through the glass in the door first. There were five guards passing through. The leader would have fought the guards head on, they were only swordmen, but that could take away time that he would need in order to escape. He waited until the guards went on then he opened the door quietly and made his way in the opposite direction.

The leader moved at a fast pace, keeping silent all the while. He was going to make it! He would be at one of the exits soon and then he would be out. He knew he might have to deal with some guards but outside he could pull off a jutsu and get away quicker then he could inside.

Finally the boy reached the door and in one push found himself breathing in the sweet smell of summer. This was the first time he had been outside without any teachers or guards watching his every move since he had been to the academy. It was such a new sensation to not have eyes on him for once, to be invisible. He couldn't stop to enjoy the feeling for long, there was still the courtyard and the thirty foot wall to get through and then he could celebrate.

The boy closed the space between him and the wall within moments. Gathering chakra in his feet the boy began running up the wall. He was close to the top, only five steps away! Four! Three! Two! On-

A sharp pain struck the boys lower back. With his concentration gone the chakra left his feet and he fell to the ground. Blood flowed from the boy's mouth, like a rain drop down a flower's petal. Through blurry globes he saw the sky and the birds who were able to fly over the wall he had so desperately wanted to scale over. He would not be able to, but with any luck one of the others would make it. At least one of them had to escape, and tell the leaf village-

"Noone escaped." A cold voice told the boy.

With effort the boy looked to the source of the voice. A pale man with white hair stood over him, in one hand holding a blade made of bone. The other blade was still buried in the boy's back.

"The girl who activated the paper bomb is dead. The other two were caught and will be dead soon as well. I could bring you in, but there would be no point. It would make more since to simply kill you here."

The pale man placed the tip of the blade on the right side of the boy's neck, then ran it to the left side. The pale man was not interested in watching the boy die so he left him where he was, his heart pumping his blood through the gash in his throat.

The Flourishing Leaf Academy had to recover quickly from this latest attemp at escape because in one week it would be enrollment day. That meant another batch of students to contend with, and if they were lucky one of them would have what they wanted. There was no rush however, as long as the leaf village was ignorant of their actions they could experiment and test all they wanted.

In one week new students would be entering the halls of Flourishing Leaf Academy, and would soon find themselves desperately trying to get out of them.

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters, Masashi Kishimoto does. I do own my o/c Ai Kiyoshi.

A/N: I know I haven't updated in awhile and I'm sorry. I've been planning out the plot and character development. I'm going to try to update more often. I'll be using the shippuden version of the Naruto characters. I will be try to keep the characters as close to their manga counterparts as possible. Please review and enjoy.

**2**

_Ai Kiyoshi_

Daichi Kiyoshi watched the clock as it turned 6 o'clock. A feeling of sadness and pride swelled inside Daichi. He didn't want to let go of his lovely fifteen year old daughter, but at the same time he felt proud that his daughter was chosen to attend Flourishing Leaf Academy.

The Kiyoshi clan use to be the most prestigous clan in the Hidden Leaf Villages because of their eye jutsu, but when the Uchiha and Hyuga clans rose with stronger eye jutsus the Kiyoshi clan fell into the shadows.

Daichi hoped that through the academy his daughter's skills would excel and she would bring the Kiyoshi clan back into the spotlight and overshadow the other two clans.

"Ai!" Daichi called up to his daughter's bedroom. "If you don't hurry you'll be late!"

"I'm already ready!" Ai called back and walked down the stairs.

Ai was dressed in the Flourishing Leaf Academy uniform; black jacket and skirt, white shirt, and red tie.

"You got ready that quickly?" Daichi asked with a smile.

"No," Ai replied, her voice soft. "I woke up at dawn. I was afraid if I went back to sleep I would miss the bus so I just got dressed."

Daichi looked at his daughter and his heart swelled. Ai was small for her age, with skinny arms and legs, and short brown hair. She resembled her mother the most, having her dark skin and facial features. The only attribute that came from her father was the bright violet color of Ai's eyes.

"Come here sweet heart." Daichi opened his arms wide and Ai didn't hesitate to run into them.

This would be the last time she would she her father, not being able to see him again for the next four years. The academy had strict rules that didn't allow students to visit parents or relatives even on holidays. They were only allowed to send and receive a letter once a week. Ai wanted to make these last moments with her father count.

"I'll be okay Papa." Ai promised.

"You will be more than okay Ai," Daichi said happily. "You will do better than any of them, I know it."

"You bet!" Ai spoke confidently, but didn't feel that way. Ai didn't know if she could out do every student, and felt even more doubtful about out doing an Uchiha or an Hyuga. However she knew she had to try, not for her own sake but for her clan .

The bus arrived and Ai wished her father another farewell. When she boarded a feeling of fear swept over her flesh. Ai brushed this feeling off, believing it to be nerves, unaware of it's true meaning.

_Sakura Haruno_

Sakura Haruno was in her room re-reading the letter from Flourishing Leaf Academy.

_**Dear Haruno Clan,**_

_**We are proud to accept Sakura Haruno into Flourishing Leaf Academy. In the academy Sakura will be taught advanced ninjutsu skills that she was not exposed to in the Leaf Village Academy. In Flourishing Leaf Academy we value group work as well as individual skills. To further enhance these skills Sakura will be living on campus during her four years of learning. Sakura is not allowed to come home even for holidays or for a family emergency. **_

_**Sakura can bring only one possession from home, clothes and materials will be provided for by the academy. Sakura may also bring one pet, as long as it is well trained. If more than one pet or object from home is found it will be sent back to the student's place of residence as soon as possible.**_

_**Sakura must be standing outside her home on October 10**__**th**__** at 7: 30 already dressed in the academy's uniform that was sent with this note. Sakura is not allowed to change into uniform after arriving in the academy.**_

_**We hope Sakura Haruno enjoys her learning experience at Flourishing Leaf Academy.**_

_**From,**_

_**Flourishing Leaf Academy Headmaster**_

Sakura sighed. The pet part of the letter wasn't a problem, she had no pets, but the one object was going to be tough. Sakura had many things important to her; the necklace with wolf fangs her father gave her, her ring with the rose shaped diamond that her mother gave her, and the crimson ribbon Ino Yamanaka gave her.

Sakura had these three objects placed in front of her, eyes scouring over them with intense thought. How could she choose? Why did she? Why did Flourishing Leaf Academy have such strict rules concerning possessions?

"This is impossible." Sakura groaned and ruffled her short, light pink hair.

Sakura silently started pacing around her small room as memories centering around the three gifts coarsed through her mind; mastering the shadow doppleganger skill, graduating from the Ninja Academy, and the promise to compete and surprass Ino.

All these moments were important to Sakura, they defined who she was and what she wanted to be. The necklace, ring, and ribbon were symbols of that and leaving behind any of them would be like leaving behind a great part of herself.

When Sakura's eyes rested on her mirror and she saw herself dressed in the Flourishing Leaf uniform the pacing ceased. The raven black jacket and skirt were like two large tunnels. The white button shirt was like the light at the end of the tunnels. The red tie was like a long steam of blood, the blood she was going to shed at the academy.

Sakura stared long and hard at the uniform feeling a mix of pain and honor.

"Am I really making such a fuss over this?" Sakura asked herself.

Chuckling softly Sakura shook her head and walked over to the gifts. Quickly and without a second thought Sakura grabbed the ribbon, for that symbol was the greatest for Sakura, placed it in her jacket pocket and went downstairs to tell her parents good-bye.

_Naruto Uzumaki_

Naruto Uzumaki fell out of bed, hitting his head on the cold wooden floor. Naruto rubbed the large lump that had formed behind his ear and stared dizzily at his frog shaped clock. It was 7:00.

"Oh no!" Naruto yelled becoming alert. "I'm gonna be late!"

"It's your own fault for not setting your clock." Gamakichi scolded.

Naruto glared at the small orange toad with blue markings around his eyes. It had been awhole month since Naruto agreed to let Gamakichi and Gamatatsu stay at his place and he found himself greatly regretting the decision. Gamakichi always had something smart to say and Gamatatsu ate everything.

"Don't start with me toad," Naruto barked. "It's too damn early."

Weakly Naruto stood up and went to closet to retrieve his uniform. Quickly throwing off his pajamas Naruto dressed into his uniform and stood in front of his mirror. The jacket and shirt was a nice fit, the black pant however were too long and Naruto had to roll the cuff up and couple of times. Naruto spent the next ten minutes trying to tie the red tie. It kept coming out wrong, uneven and messy.

"I'll help." Gamatatsu offered, leaping out from under Naruto's bed.

"Thinks, but I think your fingers are too slimey." Naruto laughed.

"If you say so." Gamatatsu said hopping towards a bag of candy lying on the floor.

Naruto growled and untied the tie again. Frustrated Naruto looked in the mirror at himself and couldn't help but think that his father would have finished tying the damn thing by now, that his mother would have woken him up so he wouldn't be rushing. The thoughts were weighing heavily on Naruto's heart and in defeat he left the tie hanging around his neck.

In an uncharacteristic quiet and slow manner Naruto brushed his hair-so that he wouldn't be completely unpresentable-and pulled the necklace Tsunade gave him off his bedpost.

"Hey, you okay?" Gamakichi asked concerned.

"Yeah," Naruto replied silently. "Come on, you too Gamatatsu."

"Where are we going?" Gamatatsu asked through a full mouth.

"To the Flourishing Leaf Academy." Naruto said plainly.

"The letter said only one of us can go." Gamakichi pointed out.

"I know but I don't care. I promised your dad that I would look after the both of you."

Naruto pulled a large black duffle bag from underneath his bed, grabbed Gamakichi by his small blue jacket, and placed him gently inside. Then Naruto stepped over toward the small yellow toad and put him in the bag too (along with the already half empty bag of candy).

Naruto took a quick look at his clock, seeing it was 7:20 he left the small apartment. As Naruto trotted down the stairs he couldn't help feeling depressed over the fact he had no parents to say good-bye to. However this was a feeling the sixteen year old boy was use to, and once he was among others it would seem that he had never known sorrow at all.

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
